Leishmania tropica

Leishmania tropica is a very heterogeneous species complex with strains that can be

distinguished on ecologic, biochemical and serologic grounds. Zoonotic L. tropica is a
parasite of dogs and rodents and is associated with rural disease. Anthroponotic L.
tropica is a parasite of humans and occurs in urban environments. The infection was
formerly common in many large cities of the Middle East (Baghdad, Teheran,
Aleppo, and Damascus) leading to it being known as “urban”
cutaneous leishmaniasis. It is also found in southern Italy, Greece, Pakistan, and
north-western India. With residual insecticide spraying for malaria control, there was
a marked decrease in the sandfly populations and concomitant decline in the incidence
of urban cutaneous leishmaniasis. However, a major epidemic of anthroponotic
cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. tropica has occurred in war-ravaged Kabul,
Afghanistan, with thousands of cases identified [67].
(Alan J Magill, in Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Disease
(Ninth Edition), 2013)

Abstract
Leishmania tropica causes different forms of leishmaniasis in many parts of the
world. Animal models can help to clarify the issues of pathology and immune
response in L. tropica infections and can be applied to the control, prevention and
treatment of the disease. The aim of this article is to summarize published data related
to experimental models of this parasite, presenting an overview of the subject. We
also present in brief the epidemiology, transmission and human manifestation of L.
tropica infection.
Mice, rats and hamsters have been used for experimental models of L.
tropica infection. Main findings of the published studies show that: (1) Hamsters are
the best animal model for L. tropica infection, with the drawback of being outbred
hence not suitable for many studies. (2) L. tropica infection causes a non-ulcerative
and chronic pathology as cutaneous form in mice and usually visceral form in
hamsters. (3) L. tropica infection in mice results in a weaker immune response in
comparison to Leishmania major. (4) While the Th1 responses are evoked against L.
tropica, Th2 responses do not explain the outcomes of this infection, and IL-10
and TGF-β are two main suppressive cytokines. (5) The host genotype affects the
immune response and disease outcome of L. tropica infection and the dose, strain,
routes of inoculation, and sex of the host are among the factors affecting disease
outcome of this species.
Epidemiology
Leishmania tropica is endemic to those countries of Europe and northern Africa
bordering the Mediterranean Sea and to the Asian countries of Syria, Israel, southern
Russia, China, Vietnam, and India. L. mexicana has been reported from Peru, Bolivia,
Brazil, the Guianas, and Mexico. A variant clinical form of cutaneous leishmaniasis
occurring in South and Central America and Ethiopia is referred to as diffuse
cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL). DCL never heals spontaneously and there is a
tendency to relapse after treatment.
The vectors for L. tropica and L. mexicana are members of the sandfly
genera Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia, respectively. The life cycles of L. tropica and L.
mexicana parallel that of L. donovani. In addition to humans, L. tropica infects dogs
and cats in China and a few Mediterranean countries. Natural infections are known to
occur in monkeys, bullocks, and brown bears in the Middle East, as well as horses and
gerbils. In some areas of the Middle East, the infection is endemic among rodents in
whose burrows the sandflies live and breed. Humans, intruding in these areas, are
readily infected. A few instances of L. tropica infecting the spleen and lymph glands
(viscerotropic infection) have been reported in American military personnel in the
Middle East following the Persian Gulf War (1990-91). In the Western Hemisphere,
dogs serve as the primary domestic reservoir, while armadillos and arboreal rodents
may also serve as sylvatic reservoirs.
(Alan J Magill, in Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Disease
(Ninth Edition), 2013)

Morphology and Lifecycle of Leishmania Tropica:

The morphology and life cycle of Leishmania Tropica resemble those of L. donovani.
The amastigote are present in the skin, within large mononuclear cells, in neutrophils,
inside capillary endothelial cells and also free in the tissues. They are ingested by
sandflies, feeding near the skin lesions.

In the midgut of the sand-fly, the amastigotes develop into promastigotes which
replicate profusely. These are, in turn, transmitted to the skin of persons bitten by the
sandflies.

(https://www.notesonzoology.com/parasitology/leishmania-tropica-morphology-and-
pathogenicity-zoology/4671)

Treatment and Prevention

Antimonial medications are often effective by intramus-

cular injections for 10 days. Resistant infections may

require repeated treatments. Amphotericin B and an

antifungal preparation called ketoconazole may provide
effective treatment if patients suffer from prolonged
infections.
Prevention is accomplished through controlling
sand fly populations by destroying the vectors and by
controlling rodents in endemic areas where the sand flies
may also find hosts. In addition, individuals infected with

Leishmania organisms should be quickly treated to pre-

vent further transmission to other humans from insects

that bite the victim and then transmit the organisms to

others, leading to a significant and rapid increase in the
number of cases of the disease.